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Back to Rhubarb

As a privileged, white Canadian I know that I am not the demographic for which last night’s election results are the hardest to swallow. Not even close.

I believe there’s a lot of good in this world, but we must continue to hold our own government to account – on climate change, on Indigenous rights, on social justice – and not fall into divisive and fear-based politics. We must amplify the voices of those more vulnerable, and be better allies.
Anyway, that’s what I’ve been telling myself to assuage the knot in my stomach.

I stayed up til the wee hours of the morning to watch Donald Trump’s victory speech (file that under things that feel surreal to type), so ended up feeling a bit like a zombie today. Between sadly watching HRC’s concession speech with coworkers and clicking through countless articles and tweets dissecting the election results, it didn’t feel possible for much else to occupy my thoughts today. (We treated ourselves to ramen, though, which was a bright spot.)

But in an attempt to multitask and focus on something apolitical while watching the coverage last night, I turned to my much neglected drafts and decided that the blogosphere could probably use a drink. So we’re going back to rhubarb…

Safe to say that rhubarb season has come and gone. After writing about it well before the first crops popped up in the spring I was excited to enjoy as much of it as I could ingest. I attempted rhubarb ombré and a rhubarb lattice, and threw it in many a crumble/cobbler/compote…but neglected to write about any of it. (Sigh.)

This recipe is an outtake from my rhubarb adventures for Ottawa Magazine (we ended up going with hamantaschen). I reached out to Steve from Split Tree cocktails to chat with him about his Rhubarb and Elderflower cordial. It was a text from a cousin of his in England who told him that everyone across the pond was drinking rhubarb and elderflower cocktails that led Steve to create one of his most popular products.

Bartenders extraordinaire Jesse and Tristan from Union 613 developed a lovely cocktail recipe featuring the cordial. And though rhubarb may be out of season for now, the cordial, fortunately, is not. So you can enjoy a Mayflower now. Here’s to perpetual optimism. 💞